Wichita eagle., 1887-11-18
PROBABLY MURDERED.
An Unknown Man Found Dead, Proves to
Have Been Murdered.

| KANSAS CITY, Nov. III H. Rothwell,
coroner Of Clay county, is at present busily
engaged in an attempt to solve a murder
mystery. Two negroes, named Thomas
Case and Parish Mulhall, while hunting
Tuesday afternoon, in the woods between
Harlem and Randolph, found the nude
corpse of man in clump of bushes and
weeds. 1t was lying face downward and
was badly decomposed. The men who
made the gastly discovery FASTENED to
police headquarters and notified Chief
Speers, who sent them TO Coroner Roth
well. That official proceeded to the spot
where the body was lying and made an ex-
animation of it, He found that the left
side of the forehead and the left cheek bone
to the base of the nose was crushed in and
that there was a deep scalp wound and a
slight fracture of the skull just behind the
right ear. Both the wounds had the APP
pearance of having been inflicted with a
club or heavy blunt instrument. The right
| thumb had also been severed from the hand
at the second joint.
In speaking of his investigation, Coroner
| ROthwell said: Strange as it may Seem
! | found no weapon nor evidence of a strug-
! gle near the corpse. 1t was lying midway
| between the Liberty road and the river,
| and mile and a half from Harlem | have
no doubt that the deceased was murdered
and stripped OF his clothing, which .was
doubtless weighted and sunk i'll the river
| There must have been some Distinguishing
mark upon his right thumb, for it was in
my opinion. cut off bv the assassin to pre-
vent the body being identified Who the
murdered man was | have been unable to
! ascertain. He was of slight build, feet
/ ~ III H.
weighed between 1875 and 100 pounds, and
had dark hair and dark mustache. Owing
to the badly decompOsed condition of the
face his age could not be determined
neither could / ascertain the color of his
eyes. He had evidently been dead at least
two weeks when found. OF course | can
only theoriZe as to how he came to his
death 1t is my belief that he was either
out hunting or else he had become de-
| mented and was wandering through the
woods and that some person followed him
and that before he was aware of his danger
struck him with club and killed him
| If decomposition was not so far advanced
| would have the corpse photographed
in the hope that some one would be able to
recognize in the deceased relative or ac-
quaintance. The wife of B. Frank Orr
an emDloye of Wood Bros Coal and Ice
company, of Kansas City, called upon me
today and requested permission to view
the remains. She said her husband had
either been killed or committed suicide
while temporarily deranged | showed her
the body, but she could not decide wheth-
er or not it WAS that of her husband, owing
to the decayed state. She was of the opin-
ion, however, that the dead mans hair
and mustache were somewhat darker than
Orr's, and also that he was not so heavy
| have heard of no one else being missing
and unaccounted for.
FX-Deputy Marshal John r. Walsh has
not been seen or heard of by his friends in
this city, for over a week, and it is thought
by some that the body found near the
river bank in Clay county, may be his
Eight nights ago he separated from a
friend and announced his intention of 60
ing to his room, but he did not do so. Dr.
II. B. Wood yesterday telegraphed to his
parents in Chicago, for information con-
corning him, but they were ignorant as to
his whereabouts.